UF and Arkansas win track championship

1114 days ago

SEC Staff

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- The No. 1 Florida men's track and field team and the No. 1 Arkansas women's track and field team claimed the 2015 Southeastern Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships, contested on Saturday at the E.J. Nutter Field House on the campus of the University of Kentucky.

The SEC Indoor Championship is the seventh all-time for the Florida men and the first since 2011. The Gators scored 114 total team points to take home the title, while Arkansas was second with 89 and Texas A&M was third with 87. Ole Miss was fourth with 62 points while LSU rounded out the top-five with 53 points.

"Our men really showed up and fought though some adversity," Florida head coach Mike Holloway said. "I'm extremely proud of everybody. We know that everyone comes in here with a lot of pride and passion, and we just needed to match that. We did that and I'm very proud of our team."

The Arkansas women won their fifth all-time SEC Indoor Championship and first since 2013 by scoring 130 total team points. Florida was second with 86 points, Texas A&M was third with 81.90 points, Kentucky was fourth with 76 points and LSU was fifth with 51 points.

"It was a great collective effort," Arkansas women's head coach Lance Harter. "We came from so many different angles and so many different events. I think that once that momentum started, it was almost like a snowball going downhill. Everybody started stepping up. We had so many lifetime bests, which kind of reconfirms to our coaching staff that we plotted out the training and racing to perfection. Now, we just have to take those who made the top-16 to get ready for nationals."

Eight meet records were either set or tied during the course of the 2015 SEC Indoor Championship and the meet was highlighted by a collegiate-record performance in the women' 60-meter dash by Alabama's Remona Burchell (7.08).

Burchell captured the women's 60-meter dash title in a collegiate-record time of 7.08. It was the first-ever women's 60-meter title in Alabama history, though Pauline Davis won the women's 55-meter dash in 1988. Kentucky's Dezerea Bryant, the 2014 SEC Champion in the event, was second in 7.18, while Florida's Shayla Sanders was third in 7.25.

Missouri's Kearsten Peoples won the women's weight throw with a toss of 22.45m/73-8 to become the first Mizzou athlete to win an SEC women's title in that event. Texas A&M's Brea Garrett was second with a mark of 22.03m/72-3.50, while Kentucky's Beckie Famurewa was third with a toss of 21.52m/70-7.25.

Georgia's Leontia Kallenou defended her SEC women's high jump title and tied her own meet record at 1.90m/6-2.75. She becomes the first repeat winner in the event since LSU's Brittani Carter in 2010 and 2011. Georgia's Tatiana Gusin was second with a mark of 1.87m/6-1.50, while Florida's Taylor Burke was third at 1.84m/6-0.50.

Georgia freshman Keturah Orji captured the women's triple jump title with a leap of 13.72m/45-0.25. She became the first Georgia athlete to win the event since Colleen Felix in 2011 and 2012. Florida's Ciarra Brewer, the 2014 SEC triple jump champion, was second with a mark of 13.54m/44-5.25, while Vanderbilt's Simone Charley was third with a mark of 13.24m/43-5.25.

Arkansas' Andrew Irwin won his third career SEC men's indoor pole vault title with a leap of 5.58m/18-3.75. He is the first three-time winner in the event since Tennessee's Michael Hogue won three in a row from 2006-08. Tennessee's Jake Blankenship was second with a mark of 5.58m/18-3.75, while Texas A&M's Chase Wolfle was third at 5.50m/18-0.50.

Georgia went 1-2-3 in the men's heptathlon with Garrett Scantling taking home the SEC title with a meet-record score of 6,036. It was his second all-time SEC heptathlon title after also winning the event in 20123, and Georgia athletes have won four of the last six SEC crowns in the event. Maicel Uibo was second in 5,909, while Devon Williams was third in 5,601.

Kentucky's Kendra Harrison defended her title in the 60-meter hurdles, breaking her own meet record to finish in a time of 7.92. Her previous meet record was 7.94, set last year, and she is the only winner in SEC Championship history to run sub-eight seconds.

Arkansas' Omar McLeod won the men's 60-meter hurdles in an SEC meet record time of 7.49, which ties for the No. 2 time in collegiate history. LSU's Joshua Thompson was second in a time of 7.73, while South Carolina's Jermaine Collier was third in 7.83.

Ole Miss' Jalen Miller became his school's first-ever SEC men's 60-meter dash champion, clocking a winning time of 6.56. Missouri's Markesh Woodson, the 2013 SEC Champion, was second in 6.58, while Tennessee's Christian Coleman was third in 6.62.

Arkansas' Dominique Scott won the women's mile run in a meet-record time of 4:32.49 to break Kristen Gillespie's meet record of 4:34.49 set in 2012. Mississippi State's Rhianwedd Price was second in 4:32.74, while Arkansas' Diane Robison was third in 4:38.99.

Ole Miss went 1-2 in the men's mile to capture the school's first-ever title in the event. Daniel Bulmer won the race in a time of 4:03.28, while teammate Craig Engels was second in 4:03.76. Alabama's Robbie Farnham-Rose was third in 4:03.87.

Texas A&M's Shamier Little won the women's 400-meter dash in a time of 51.37, making her the second consecutive Aggie to claim the title after Kamaria Brown was victorious a year ago. Little's time of 51.37 is the 10th-fastest time ever on the world's all-time list for oversized tracks. Florida's Kyra Jefferson was second in 52.00, while Arkansas' Taylor Ellis-Watson was third in 52.03.

Florida's Najee Glass won the men's 400-meter dash in a time of 45.37 to make him the first Florida athlete since Kerron Clement in 2005 to claim the SEC men's indoor 400m. Texas A&M's Bralon Taplin was second in 45.52, while LSU's Vernon Norwood was third in 45.68.

Texas A&M's Hillary Montgomery won the SEC women's 5,000-meter run title in a time of 16:16.00 to give the Aggies their first-ever SEC women's indoor 5K crown. Teammate Grace Fletcher was second in 16:22.48, while Arkansas' Shannon Klenke was third in 16:29.08.

Arkansas' Chrishuna Williams claimed the women's 800-meter run in a time of 2:02.95 to make her the second consecutive Razorback to win the event. Stephanie Brown was the SEC 800m champion in 2014. Ole Miss' Brooke Feldmeier was second in 2:04.34 and Florida's Claudia Francis was third in 2:04.39).

Florida's Stipe Zunic won his first SEC indoor men's shot put title with a meet-record toss of 20.41m/66-11.50. He broke the previous meet record of 66-8 set by South Carolina's Brad Snyder in 1998. Georgia's Ashinia Miller was second in 19.35m/63-6.50, while Alabama's Kyle Felpel was third in 18.87m/59-5.50.

Florida's Ryan Schnulle claimed the men's 800-meter run in a time of 1:48.25 to give the Gators two titles in the event in the past three years, as Sean Obinwa won in 2013. Florida's Andres Arroyo was second in 1:48.48, while Kentucky's Keffri Neal - the 2014 champion in the event - was third in 1:48.79.

Florida's Kyra Jefferson captured the women's 200-meter dash in a time of 23.02 to give the Gators their first title in the event since Michelle Freeman in 1992. Kentucky's Dezerea Bryant was second in 23.02, while Texas A&M's Kamaria Brown was third in 23.03.

After winning the men's long jump on Friday, Dendy claimed the men's triple jump on Saturday with a leap of 16.98m/55-8.50. He became the first SEC athlete to win both the long jump and triple jump at the SEC Indoor Championships since Florida's Christian Taylor in 2009. Texas A&M's Latario Collie is second with a mark of 16.56m/54-4, while Alabama's Jeremiah Green is third at 16.11m/52-10.25.

LSU's Aaron Ernest won the men's 200-meter dash in a time of 20.69 to give him his second career title in the event after also winning in 2013. Texas AM's Shavez Hart was second in a time of 20.90, while Florida's Dedric Dukes was third in a time of 20.96.

Arkansas' Kemoy Campbell won the men's 5,000-meter run in a time of 13:44.96. He is the second consecutive Arkansas athlete to win the event as Solomon Haile was victorious in 2014. Florida's Mark Parrish was second in 13:53.68, while Auburn's Ty McCormack was third in 13:56.75.

Arkansas won the women's distance medley relay in a time of 11:19.86 for its first title in the event since 2001. Ole Miss captured the men's distance medley relay for the second consecutive year, clicking a time of 9:43.87.

Arkansas won the women's 4x400-meter relay in a time of 3:30.79 to give the Razorbacks their fourth title in the event in the last six years. Texas A&M took home the men's 4x400-meter relay title for the third consecutive year in a time of 3:03.75 - just shy of the Aggies' meet record of 3:03.20 set a year ago.

The 2015 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships are slated to take place March 13-14 at the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, Ark.

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